The return invasion
by Looneyman
Summary: The shroobs have made a return invasion and have taken everyone away to the planet shroob, well almost everyone. Major Partners In Time spoilers! Yoshi x Birdo ON HOLD
1. Prologue: They're back!

A/N: This is my first Mario fic so please be gentle in the reviews. I've got several stories being worked on right now so don't expect a fast update. This is a Yoshi/Birdo fic. Don't like the pairing, don't read the fic. It's also my sequel to Mario and Luigi: Partners in time. Also, translated shroob dialogue will be in _italics_.

WARNING! This first chapter contains major spoilers for Partners in time, especially the first paragraph!

Disclaimer: Yoshi, Birdo, Mario and all related characters are copyrighted by the masters known as Nintendo. This story is being written with no profit motive.

**Prologue: They're back!**

The planet Shroob, a desolate far away planet. The denizens of this planet had once set their sights on the mushroom kingdom. They sent an army to invade the kingdom and set about a /shroob civilisation. However, too many complications were thrown into the plan when princess peach from the future mushroom kingdom appeared in a time machine. The two shroob princesses immediately attacked peach. The larger and stronger of the two was sealed away in the mighty cobalt star, the source of the time machines power. The cobalt star was then shattered, but peach was still captured. This brought about the arrival of the Mario brothers from the future. The brothers teamed up with their younger selves and began to search for princess peach. The remaining princess shroob tried to use this to her advantage by disguising herself as peach and allowing herself to be taken back to the future, in an attempt to take over that kingdom. However, this was foiled when king bowser kidnapped her but fell into a time hole and back into the past by accident. As a result, princess shroob was left stuck in the past. The Mario brothers learned that they had been tricked and tracked peach to Shroob castle, assembling the cobalt star as they went. They didn't realise that by assembling the cobalt star, they were restoring the elder shroob princess' power. When the younger princess was defeated, the cobalt star was accidentally assembled and the elder shroob princess was freed, only to be defeated by the Mario brothers. The shroob's weakness was then discovered and they were either destroyed or forced to flee to their home planet. It was only here, several years later, when the new leader of the shroobs decided to try again. She had observed the mushroom kingdom for several years after the incident, waiting for the perfect time to attack again. After several years of watching and waiting, she decided on the perfect time to attack. She rallied her forces and directed her sword of vengeance towards the mushroom kingdom. This time, she was not going to take any chances. She also planned to take care of the Mario brothers to ensure that nobody could interfere with the shroobs this time.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the mushroom kingdom, princess peach and several others from both the mushroom kingdom and neighbouring kingdoms were all gathered in peach's castle. They were celebrating the birthday of peach's long time servant toadsworth. Among those present were Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, Queen beanbean and Prince Peasley from the beanbean kingdom, Princess daisy from the Sarasa land, DK and Diddy Kong. Other people had been invited but they were either unable to come or didn't want to come for some reason. At the moment, everybody was in the main hall, all having a good time. Mario and Peach were dancing hand in hand, Daisy was dancing with Luigi, DK and Diddy Kong were eating some bananas from the food stands, Wario was arguing with Prince Peasley about who was stronger, Waluigi was busy eyeing Queen Beanbean, who didn't appear to take any notice. Toadsworth was just sitting by himself. He was too old to be doing anything strenuous now. The recent baseball tournament had worn him out to the bone. Sitting next to him was one of the many other toads that lived in the castle. This toad was just having a slice of cake. The cake had already been cut and everything else expected at a birthday part had been done. While Toadsworth was sitting down though, Princess peach and Mario came over to him.

"Toadsworth, are you ok?" Peach asked.

"My dear, I'm getting old. I wear out easily." Toadsworth replied.

"Would a refreshroom help?"

"That won't be necessary my princess. I've never danced in my life anyway."

"How come?" Mario asked.

"Two left feet my boy."

"I see."

"If I was a little younger, I would take dancing lessons."

"It's never too late." Peach stated.

"My dear, my bones are weak."

"Ok then. Have you had a good birthday?"

"I have indeed my princess. I had no idea that you were organising this behind my back. I am very grateful that you have done so."

"Peach, did you invite Yoshi? I can't see him anywhere." Mario asked.

"I did, but he sent a note saying something about other commitments that clashed." Peach replied.

"Ok. It's just a …"

* * *

Mario was interrupted when the roof of the building collapsed all of a sudden, interrupting everybody. They all looked up to see what was happening. They saw Bowser in the Koopa Clown car descending down to the party. The whole room went deadly silent. The Koopa clown car descended to the ground and Bowser jumped out, followed by Bowser Jr.

"Grr, you should know better than to hold a party and not to invite us!" Bowser growled.

"Whose idea was this party anyway? It looks fun!" Bowser Jr. asked. Nobody spoke, but Mario readied the hammer that he had received from his younger self, just in case a fight brewed up. Bowser gave his wicked laugh and looked at everybody.

"Scared to speak?" Finally, princess peach spoke out.

"You weren't invited Bowser. Why did you come?" She asked.

"I'll give you two guesses." This was all that Mario needed to know. He jumped at Bowser and swung his hammer at full strength, clanging Bowser on the head. Bowser held his head and glared at Mario.

"That's just typical. You're toast!" Bowser roared.

"I'm with you!" Bowser Jr. added.

"Luigi, you helping?" Mario called out. Luigi nodded and ran to his brother. Everyone backed away and waited to see what would happen. Prince Peasley drew his rapier ready to help out in case something went wrong. Before anybody could attack though, the whole castle suddenly shook and there was the sound of an explosion. Everybody jumped and began looking around.

"What was that?" Daisy asked.

"Whatever it is, it sounds nasty." Diddy added.

"Well it won't get through me." Peasley said, readying his rapier.

"Just when things were getting interesting." Wario moaned. Everyone was interrupted again when a toad came rushing into the room from upstairs. It was running so fast it tripped on the top step and fell to the bottom. DK went over to the toad and picked it up.

"You ok?" DK asked. The toad opened its eyes.

"Sh-sh-sh." The toad stuttered. Everybody but Bowser and Bowser Jr. gathered around to find out what was going on.

"The who?" Waluigi asked.

"What is it my boy?" Toadsworth asked.

"Sh-sh-shroobs!" The toad finally finished. Mario, Luigi, Peach and Toadsworth gasped.

"Shroobs!" Peach exclaimed.

"Shroob ships…attacking…the castle." The toad then passed out after finishing. There was another explosion and another hole was blasted in the side of the castle. Everybody looked out of the hole and saw hundreds of Shroob ships outside. Bowser and Bowser Jr. saw them too.

"The shroobs again!" Bowser growled.

"Who?" Bowser Jr. asked.

"Everybody, we need to get out of here!" Princess Peach shouted.

"But where to?" Queen Beanbean asked.

"We'll go to E.gadd's lab. He can produce the one thing that can defeat the shroobs."

"That might be a problem." Diddy Kong said.

"Why?"

* * *

Diddy Kong pointed to the main entrance. A huge army of shroobs had entered the castle. They were all armed with their alien handguns. They were aimed at the group. Prince Peasley had his rapier ready; Mario and Luigi had their hammers ready and Bowser was preparing his fire breath. The shroobs didn't even flinch when they saw the group ready; they just waited. They then suddenly heard a signal and stepped aside to allow another shroob to walk through. This shroob was dressed in a pink gown, similar to peach's gown. She looked very much like the younger princess shroob that Mario and Luigi had met before, only she was taller and thinner.

"Pr-princess shroob?" Peach exclaimed.

"_You must be Princess Peach!_" The shroob said. Nobody could understand what she had just said.

"What?" Waluigi asked.

"_You must all die for the death of my sisters!_"

"We can't understand them." Mario said.

"She could be saying anything then." Wario replied.

"_Take them away!_" The shroob shouted. All of the other shroobs fired their weapons at the group. The group scattered and those that could fight prepared to fight back. Nobody had noticed a shroob ship enter the room through the hole in the wall. It was busy powering up a powerful blast. Prince Peasley began lashing at the shroobs with his rapier, slaying quite a few. Mario and Luigi were using their hammers to hit as many as they could. DK and Diddy were running around the area and punching the living daylights out of as many as they could. Wario and Waluigi decided to join in. Wario was grabbing shroobs and throwing them into the others. Waluigi was running all over the shops and smashing them with his fists. Bowser was using his fire breath to flambé a large group. They had killed half of the shroobs excluding the princess before Daisy noticed the shroob craft in the room.

"Guys, we've got other trouble." Daisy exclaimed. Everyone looked up and saw the ship but it was too late. The ship fired a huge blast of energy into the floor, causing a huge flash. When the flash ended, everybody but the shroobs was unconscious. All of the remaining shroobs began laughing manically.

"_Take them to our home planet and leave them there until this kingdom is ours! They won't be able to do any harm there!_" The shroob princess instructed. A bunch more shroob ships swept into the room and used their suction beams to take everybody onboard. All the ships left the castle, only leaving the shroobs and the princess.

"_Now there is nobody left to challenge us. This planet is ours!_" With that shout, the princess started laughing hysterically. Other shroob warships were wreaking havoc among toad town while this had been going on, abducting almost everybody. The whole town had been devastated and everybody that could interfere had been taken away. Well, almost everybody that could interfere had been taken.


	2. Yoob returns

A/N: Again, I'll be translating Yoshi and Birdo's dialogue. The translated speech will be in **Bold**.

**Yoob returns**

While this was all happening, on Yoshi's island, Birdo was busy in her garage. The garage, like the rest of her house, was coloured pink and had red ribbons painted on the wall. There were several shelves stacked with paint, mostly pink and red. Birdo was busy playing mechanic, trying to repair the Turbo Birdo. It had developed a bad oil leak, and since there was no service station on the island, she had to do it herself. She was wearing a pink apron, which was almost completely covered in oil when she came out. The leak wasn't quite fixed yet but she needed to clean up and have a drink. She grabbed a nearby cloth to wipe the oil off her hands and her face. There was still a little oil on her hands. She went towards the door in the back of the garage when she heard a knock at the garage entrance. She turned to look and saw Yoshi at the entrance.

"**Hi Birdo**." Yoshi greeted. Birdo waved and walked over to him.

"**Great to see you Yoshi**." Birdo greeted back.

"**What were you doing to your car**?"

"**It had an oil leak. I was trying to fix it but I'm not having much luck**."

"**You take a rest. I'll have a go**."

"**Are you sure? I don't want to work you**."

"**It's no bother. I've just finished fixing one of my cars myself**."

"**Well, ok then**." Yoshi went over to the Turbo Birdo and began working on it while Birdo went to wash up. She went from the garage to her kitchen. This was also mostly pink with red ribbons on the walls. The kitchen was stacked with all of the common things that you'd find in a kitchen, with the addition of a small television in one corner. Birdo turned the television on while she washed her hands and took her apron off. She did feel guilty about letting Yoshi take care of her vehicle problem but he did insist. She kept half an eye on the TV while she was washing the oil off of her hands. The current programme, which was her favourite programme, was suddenly interrupted by an emergency news bulletin, fully catching Birdo's attention. She looked up as soon as the bulletin began.

"This is an emergency bulletin from princess peach's castle. An alien army is attacking the kingdom. It is believed to be the return of the shroob army that had invaded several years ago. It is feared that the princess, along with several guests that were present at the castle, have been abducted by the shroobs. Citizens are advised to stay indoors and wait for further announcements." The announcement sent a shiver down Birdo's spine. She didn't know who the Shroobs were but could tell that there was big trouble. She didn't know what she should do at all, if she could do anything. She turned the television off and poured herself a glass of water to try and take her mind off what she had seen. Truth be told, she didn't want to believe it herself. She had always had nightmares about an alien invasion, so the news article had left her a little traumatised. She felt her heart skip a beat when she heard a footstep in the kitchen. Thankfully, it was only Yoshi, wiping his face and hands with a rag.

"**Are you ok Birdo**?" Yoshi asked. Birdo jumped a little but sighed with relief when she saw Yoshi. She didn't want to tell Yoshi about what she had seen.

"**I'm ok. Just a little bit unwell**." Birdo lied.

"**Perhaps you should rest**."

"**I'll be fine with a glass of water**."

"**Ok. I've fixed the car. Shall we test it**?" Birdo was incredibly nervous about testing the vehicle, especially because of what she had seen. But she didn't want to make Yoshi suspicious that she was worried about something, so she decided to agree.

"**Ok. Let me finish this drink**." Yoshi nodded and poured himself a glass of water himself after washing the oil off of his hands and face.

"**I'll have this drink as well, then we'll test the car**."

"**Sure**."

"**I wonder how Mario's doing**."

"**Was he doing something today**?"

"**He was going to princess peach's castle for toadsworth's birthday**." Birdo's heart skipped a beat. She realised that Mario was one of the guests that had been abducted by the shroobs. All of a sudden, she wanted to tell Yoshi about what she had seen. Yoshi did notice Birdo's sudden shock when he mentioned where Mario was.

"**Birdo, are you sure you're ok**?" Yoshi asked. Birdo took a deep breath and looked at Yoshi.

"**Yoshi, there's no point in attempting to conceal it anymore. I've just seen the news. The mushroom kingdom is being invaded**." Yoshi nearly dropped his glass of water in shock.

"**What do you mean**?"

"**An alien race called the shroobs. They have attacked the castle and abducted everyone there**."

"**Did you say shroobs**?"

"**Yes. Why**?"

"**My father told me about them. They invaded when the Mario brothers were only babies**."

"**What happened to them**?"

"**It's complicated. Even I don't really understand the specifics, but they were defeated by the Mario brothers**."

"**Yoshi, what do we do**?"

"**For one thing, we stay inside just in case 'it' is back**."

"'**It'**?"

"**I dare not say the name. It's a giant Yoshi-like creature that is taboo topic amongst the Yoshi's**."

"**What did it do**?" Yoshi took a very deep breath. He didn't want to say anything about this monster but Birdo needed to know, just in case it was back.

"**It ate Yoshi's**." Birdo shuddered horribly. The thought of a giant cannibalistic Yoshi scared her. She dared not ask anything else about this creature. Instead, she went to the window and looked outside, almost as if she was expecting this creature to suddenly attack. Inside, she was worried. Since the Yoshi and Birdo races were similar, this creature might eat her if it did attack. The thought sent shivers down her spine. She put the glass that was in her hand on a nearby work desk, sat down on a chair and then buried her head in her hands. Yoshi then realised that telling Birdo about the creature had been a mistake. He went over to her, knelt down and put a hand on her shoulder.

"**I'm sorry Birdo. I should've never told you about that creature**." Yoshi said. Birdo looked up at Yoshi.

"**No Yoshi, it's my fault. I should never have asked about it**."

"**Birdo, do you want to leave the island before the creature arrives**?"

"**Leave the island**?"

"**I've decided that I want to help my friends**."

"**But how do we defeat all these shroobs**?"

"**According to my father, they had a secret weakness that destroys them. E.gadd should have the formula in his lab**."

"**Where is E.gadd's lab**?"

"**I wish I knew. All I know is that it's somewhere in a forest on the mainland**."

"**That doesn't help much**."

"**It gives me a start. Did you want to come with me**?" Birdo remained silent for a moment. She wasn't sure whether she wanted to come or not. Truth be told, over the past few days, she had developed a crush on this Yoshi. She did feel that he was too reckless for his own good, but she could see his reasons for this trip. His friends were in serious danger, and if this creature had returned, they would be in danger if they did nothing. It appeared that no matter where they went, they would be in danger. She eventually looked up at Yoshi again.

"**Yoshi, I'm coming with you**."

"**You want to come with me do you**?"

"**Even if I didn't, I'd be in danger if this creature is around. Besides, I'm a fairly good fighter when I need to be**."

"**Ok then. Just be careful, I'd never forgive myself if you got hurt**."

"**What does that mean**?" Yoshi hesitated in his response. He hid his face with his hands to hide a small blush that had appeared.

"**You're a friend. I don't want any of my friends to get hurt**." The tone of Yoshi's voice told Birdo that there was something else, but she decided not to argue.

"**I'll be fine Yoshi. We'll take the Turbo Birdo, just in case we get attacked**."

* * *

Birdo and Yoshi climbed aboard the Turbo Birdo, like they had done when they had entered the Mario Kart: Double Dash tournament a while ago. Yoshi was on the back while Birdo was driving. They were driving on the only road on the island to try to get to the one place where they could leave the island, the port. Birdo was still highly worried about what Yoshi had told her. Her main concern was what would they do if the creature that Yoshi had told her was on the island. If it was, everybody they knew would be in major trouble. Birdo put this thought to the back of her mind and concentrated on getting to the island port. Along the way though, they came across a shroob roadblock. There were about five shroobs in the road, preventing them from going on. Birdo pulled the car to a stop when she saw the shroobs in the way.

"**Yoshi, are these shroobs**?" Birdo asked.

"**Yes, those are shroobs**." Yoshi replied. The five shroobs were looking at the two dinosaurs and the car.

"_Yoshi's are still on this island then_." One of them said. Yoshi couldn't understand what the shroob was saying but, much to her surprise, Birdo could understand them.

"_But what is that other creature_?" Another asked.

"_They look similar. It might be another type of Yoshi_."

"**I'm a Birdo**!" Birdo shouted. Yoshi looked at her with shock.

"**You can understand them**?" Yoshi asked.

"**Why is that such a surprise**?"

"**Because nobody else can. I certainly can't**."

"**Then why can I**?"

"_What do we do with them_?" A shroob asked

"_They could prove a useful power source_." Another replied.

"**Power source**?" Birdo asked.

"**What are they saying**?" Yoshi asked.

"**They said that we might be a useful power source**."

"**I hope that doesn't mean what I think it means**."

"_Bring it in_." One of the shroobs said. One of the others pulled out a small device that looked like a walkie-talkie. It began speaking in a whisper so nobody could hear. The others pulled out some ray guns and aimed at Yoshi and Birdo.

"**I'm getting us out of here**." Birdo shouted. She put the pedal to the medal, turned the Turbo Birdo around and sped away, with Yoshi hanging on for dear life. When they were out of range of the shroobs, Birdo slowed down and allowed Yoshi to regain his composure.

"**Birdo, next time you're going to do something like that, give me more warning**." Yoshi managed to say in between gasping for breath.

"**Sorry Yoshi, but I'm not sticking around to find out what 'it' is**."

"**They were bringing something in**?"

"**One of them instructed the others to 'bring it in'. I don't particularly want to find out what 'it' is**." Yoshi gulped.

"**I have a feeling I already know what 'it' is**." Before the discussion could continue, a group of about three shroob saucers appeared overhead. Yoshi and Birdo were able to see them because of an enormous shadow. When they looked up, they saw that the three ships were carrying between them what looked like a giant Yoshi egg. It was coloured pink with green spots. Birdo looked at the egg awestruck while Yoshi swallowed a huge lump of hard sweat.

"**That is a big egg**."

"**Birdo, that is the egg of the creature I told you about**."

"**The Yoshi-eater…is in that egg**?"

"**It is. This was the 'it' that you heard the shroobs mention**." Both dinosaurs could only watch in horror as the shroob ships dropped the giant egg in front of them.

"**Yoshi, I'm going to get us out of here as fast as I can**."

"**Birdo, go as fast as you can. We need to place as much distance between us and the egg before it hatched**."

"**Where do we go**?"

"**The village. We have to warn everybody**." Birdo nodded and put her foot down. She turned the turbo Birdo around and they zoomed away from the egg. About a second after they had gone, the egg hatched.


	3. Defending the island

**Defending the island**

Birdo was driving the Turbo Birdo at its top speed to get away from the egg before it hatched, unaware that it had just hatched. She didn't want to meet the creature that Yoshi had told her about a few minutes ago. Yoshi himself was hanging on to the Turbo Birdo as tightly as he could. It wasn't very long until they found themselves coming into the shroob roadblock they had come across earlier. Birdo screeched the Turbo Birdo to a halt a safe distance from the roadblock.

"**The roadblock again**." Yoshi said with a sigh.

"_They're back again. Let's get them_." One of the shroobs said. They all drew their laser guns and aimed at the Turbo Birdo.

"**They're going to attack us. What now**?" Birdo asked. Yoshi looked over his shoulder. They couldn't go back towards the egg, as it was too dangerous. There was no other route nearby that they could take to avoid the roadblock. There was only one other option that Yoshi could think of. He jumped off the back of the Turbo Birdo and moved to the side.

"**We have to fight through**." Yoshi said. He swallowed a nearby rock, turned it into an egg and threw it at the shroobs. The egg hit one of the shroobs dead in the face. The resulting explosion knocked the shroob out cold. The other four suddenly aimed their guns at Yoshi and fired. Yoshi leapt out of the way of the attack before he was hit. He swallowed another rock, turned it into another egg and used it to knock out another Shroob. Yoshi was then tackled by one of the unharmed shroobs. He was knocked to the floor but climbed back up, only to have a gun placed at his stomach. The other two shroobs joined in the assault, ready to fire their guns at any moment.

"_You will stay here until_…" Before the shroob could finish its sentence, there was a small explosion that knocked the three shroobs sideways and away from Yoshi. Birdo had swallowed the two shroobs that had been knocked out, turned them into an egg and fired the egg at the shroobs surrounding Yoshi.

"**You are hurting nobody**!" Birdo said with a growl. The shroobs that she had hit had been scattered and knocked out completely. Birdo went over to the still surprised Yoshi.

"**Are you ok**?" Birdo asked.

"**Thank you Birdo. I'm fine**."

"**Where now**?"

"**We need to alert the village about the egg**."

"**So to the village then**."

"**Above the village. After the first incident, my father placed some rockets up there. If the creature was to return, the rockets were to be fired to warn everyone on the island**."

"**So how do we get there**?"

"**We have**…"

* * *

Yoshi was interrupted by a large shadow flying over their heads. They looked up and saw a shroob spaceship overhead. A yellow laser shot down and landed in front of them. From the laser came down a large green shroob. It was unarmed but had a very menacing appearance. It was a shrooboid, as big as both dinosaurs. The shrooboid looked at Birdo in particular.

"_Birdo, your mission is complete. Come back home with us and leave the Yoshi's to Yoob._" The shrooboid said.

"**What**?" Birdo asked.

"**What did he say Birdo**?" Yoshi asked.

"**I don't understand what he said myself. Something about a mission that I had being complete**."

"**What**?"

"_Birdo, it's time to go_." The shrooboid said. It reached for Birdo's arm. Birdo pulled away before it could grab her and slapped it in the face.

"_You miserable dinosaur_!" The shrooboid growled.

"L**eave me alone**!" Birdo shouted. The shrooboid growled and began spinning rapidly. While spinning, it moved towards Birdo. Both dinosaurs leapt into the air. Birdo landed on the other side of the shrooboid while Yoshi landed on top of the shrooboid. He bounced off the shrooboid and came back down with a ground pound onto the shrooboid's head. This attack nearly flattened the Shrooboid. When Yoshi jumped off, Birdo spat another egg that she had prepared by swallowing a shroob at the Shrooboid. The Shrooboid climbed to its feet just in time to be hit be the egg and get caught in a small explosion. When the smoke from the explosion cleared, the shrooboid was very weak but still alive. It pulled out a laser gun and fired at Birdo. Yoshi was able to push Birdo out of the way of the laser before it hit her. As a result, the bolt hit the floor in front of him. The small explosion knocked him off his feet but he quickly climbed back up.

"**Are you ok Yoshi**?" Birdo asked. Yoshi looked over at Birdo.

"**I'm fine**."

"_Birdo, why won't you come with us_?" The shrooboid asked.

"**What are you talking about**?" Birdo asked.

"_You don't know why you're here_?"

"**What is going on**?" Yoshi asked.

"**I don't understand myself. I'll explain later**." Birdo replied.

"**We're wasting time. I'm ending this now**!" When Yoshi finished, he leapt over the shrooboid and then ground pounded onto it. Before the shrooboid could recover, Yoshi swallowed the shrooboid and turned it into a very large egg. He suddenly clutched his stomach and fell to the ground. His green face turned slightly blue. He began coughing and gagging. Birdo became very worried. She went over to Yoshi and began rubbing his back. Yoshi suddenly began choking on something. Birdo placed her arms around Yoshi's chest and pulled her hands inward heavily. Yoshi suddenly coughed up a small ray gun. His face regained its color but he began breathing heavily. This didn't last long and his breathing soon returned to the normal.

"**Yoshi, are you ok**?" Birdo asked. Yoshi turned his head around and looked at Birdo. He nodded his head and smiled.

"**Birdo, remind me never to eat a shroob again**." Yoshi said.

"**Sure**."

"**But what was**…"

* * *

Yoshi was interrupted by what felt like an earthquake. They both felt the ground shaking and there was a loud thumping. It was heading straight towards them. Yoshi began to worry. Something told him what the thumping was but he didn't want to believe it. He couldn't take any chances though. He climbed onto the back of the Turbo Birdo and motioned Birdo to get into the driver's seat. Birdo climbed into the driver's seat and both dinosaurs looked behind them at where the thumping was coming from. It was just as Yoshi secretly feared. Behind them was what looked like a giant Yoshi. It was mostly pink but it also had green spots. It was exactly like the egg. The dinosaur looked around the area but so far it didn't see Yoshi or Birdo.

"**Is that**…" Birdo began to ask in a whisper. Yoshi nodded his head.

"**Get us out of here**." Yoshi instructed. Birdo didn't need to be told twice. She put her foot down and they sped away before Yoob realised that they were there. Yoshi directed Birdo to the top of the cliff that overlooked the village. This cliff was the highest point on the island. It was also in the centre, so it made the perfect lookout point. At the top of the cliff were a bunch of rockets. Each of them was painted with the same color markings as Yoob. There was also a message engraved into a nearby rock. The message read 'these rockets are only to be used if the Yoshi eater Yoob returns.' Birdo assumed that the name Yoob was the name of the Yoshi eater. There was also equipment nearby to light the rockets. There was also a pair of binoculars nearby. Yoshi picked up these binoculars and gave them to Birdo.

"**Birdo. I'll light the rockets, you look out for the monster**." Yoshi said. Birdo nodded, deciding not to argue. She began looking through the binoculars and eventually saw Yoob. It was now on the move. It seemed to be wondering around aimlessly. It obviously didn't know where the Yoshi's were. Birdo was also trying to think of a possible way to defeat it. So far, nothing came to mind but her mind still searched for an idea. Birdo's thoughts were interrupted when she noticed Yoob change direction. She looked at where it was going and her heart skipped a beat. It was heading directly for the village.

"**Yoshi, the monster is heading right towards the village**!" Yoshi had just been able to light one of the rockets as Birdo said this. He let the rocket fly into the sky above the village. There was a very loud whistling accompanying the rocket as it flew. The rocket exploded and released a pattern of the Yoshi eater in the sky. The pattern stayed in the air for a few seconds before disappearing. Unfortunately, the rocket had attracted Yoob's attention. It was now looking towards the cliff.

"**Where's Yoob now**?" Yoshi asked.

"**Coming toward us**!" Without any hesitation, both dinosaurs climbed aboard the Turbo Birdo and left the cliff.

"**Where now**?" Birdo asked.

"**To the port. We need to get off the island. Everyone will be making their way there**." Birdo nodded and continued driving. When they reached the bottom of the cliff, Birdo began following the road on the outside of the island. She had never been so terrified in her life. She didn't know whether Yoob would eat her as well but she equally didn't want to stick around to find out. The sooner they got off the island the better. Yoshi felt the same way. If they could get everybody off the island, they would be safe for the moment. But there would also be the problem of getting rid of Yoob again.

* * *

Along the way to the port, the two passed a tight corner on the edge of the island with a cliff very close by. Birdo had to slow down greatly in order to avoid driving off the edge, but she did catch something on a nearby sign that caught her attention. She stopped the car, much to Yoshi's shock, reversed back and had a look at the sign. The sign read; 'whirlpool cliff'. Birdo climbed out of the car and looked over the edge. She immediately saw how the area got its name. At the bottom of the cliff were several whirlpools. The cliff was about 50ft high and far too smooth to climb up. Yoshi jumped off the back of the car and came over to Birdo.

"**Birdo, we need to get out of here. Why did you stop**?" Yoshi asked.

"**Because I think I have a way of getting rid of the monster**." Birdo replied. Yoshi blinked and looked at her.

"**What's your idea**?"

"**Whirlpool cliff. If we can get the monster to fall off the cliff, it won't survive**." Yoshi had a look over the side of the cliff and had a look at the whirlpools. He then realised that Birdo may indeed have an idea. The big question was how were they going to knock Yoob off the cliff and into the whirlpools.

"**Birdo, I like your idea, but how do you intend to knock the monster into the whirlpools**?" Yoshi asked. Birdo blinked. She drew a complete blank on this idea. She sighed and looked down.

"**I don't know**." Yoshi sighed and looked around. It was now his turn to notice something. The cliff opposite the whirlpools was beginning to collapse due to wind erosion. This gave him an idea of how to knock Yoob into the whirlpools.

"**I've got it**!" Yoshi grabbed Birdo's arm and took her to the edge of the crumbling cliff.

"**Birdo, here's the plan. When Yoob passes this point, we will start a rockslide. The rockslide will hit the creature and push it into the whirlpools**."

"**But how do we start a rockslide**?" Birdo asked.

"**I know how**." Yoshi went back to the Turbo Birdo and pulled out the large egg that had resulted in swallowing the green shrooboid. Birdo immediately clicked as to what Yoshi was going to do. An egg that big would easily start a rockslide if it hit the right spot. Yoshi began examining the cliff from a distance for a few minutes. He eventually decided on a small point at the base of the cliff. He then took the egg and began lining up his shot.

"**Birdo, I only have one chance at this. Prepare yourself for the worst**." Yoshi said. Birdo remained silent out of shock. She knew what Yoshi meant by that but didn't want to believe it. She did know that if Yoshi missed, it could be the end for both of them. It wasn't long before they heard Yoob's terrible footsteps. The two walked backwards slowly to put adequate distance between where the rockslide would happen and where they were. Birdo hid behind Yoshi out of fear as Yoob appeared around the cliff. Yoshi held his breath and waited for Yoob to step on the right spot. As soon as it was in line with the cliff, Yoshi threw the egg at the spot he was aiming for. The egg found its mark and part of the cliff collapsed, starting a rockslide. Would it be enough to carry Yoob over whirlpool cliff?

A/N: Yep, a cliffhanger. Sorry this took so long. I had writers' block for this story. Anyway, please review. I need to know if there're any areas I can improve on.


	4. A theory

**A theory**

Yoshi had just started a rockslide on the cliffs nearby whirlpool cliff at Birdo's advice. The plan was to use the rockslide to carry Yoob over the cliff in the rockslide and into the whirlpool's at the bottom. Both dinosaurs hoped that Yoob would not be able to survive if it fell into the whirlpools. Yoshi had started the rockslide by throwing a large egg at the base of an overlooking cliff opposite whirlpool cliff. After Yoshi had thrown the egg, Birdo sub-consciously grabbed Yoshi's back to comfort herself. Yoshi didn't appear to realise that she was holding onto him. The rockslide that Yoshi had started turned out to be fairly large, much bigger than how big Yoshi had estimated that it would be. As they had hoped, Yoob couldn't keep it's footing during the rockslide and fell over. It was carried over the cliff by the rockslide and fell into the whirlpools. There was a huge splash when Yoob hit the water. Yoshi and Birdo could see the splash of water come up from where Yoob had fallen into the water.

"**It worked**!" Birdo exclaimed. She then realised that she was holding onto Yoshi's back. She let go of Yoshi and looked away; trying to hide the face that she was blushing a little. Yoshi looked around and put a hand on her shoulder.

"**Birdo, are you ok**?" Yoshi asked. Birdo turned around and looked back at Yoshi. She blinked a couple of times before responding.

"**I'm just… just… just relieved that the plan worked**."

"**But it brings up the question, what do we do now**?"

"**I want to get to the shroobs main base**."

"**Why do you want to go to the shroobs' base**?"

"**The way that shrooboid we faced was talking about me, there must be something about me. I want to find out what they know about me**."

"**I understand, but how do we get to the shroobs**?"

"**I don't know. We could stow away on one of the shroob saucers**."

"**Isn't that kind of dangerous**?"

"**Do we have any other ideas**?"

"**I see your point**." Yoshi then had another thought about the situation. Their battle with the shrooboid was a difficult battle. If they were going to the shroob home world to save everybody, they would be fighting several of them at once. This was never going to be easy unless they had a way to get rid of them quickly that didn't involve eating them.

"**But how are we going to defeat all of the shroob if we go there**?"

"**Defeat all of the shroobs**?"

"**I'm not eating them again. That shrooboid left a very horrible taste in my mouth**."

"**Yoshi, much as I hate to say this, I don't think there is any other way to defeat them**."

"**I remember my dad saying that they had some kind of killer weakness that wiped all of them out**."

"**What was it**?"

* * *

Yoshi had a think for a moment. He needed to remember what his father had told him about the shroob's weakness. His memory was a little misty, mainly because of the panic of Yoob. While he was thinking, he was looking around in the sky. He couldn't see anything of interest for a while, that was until he saw an object getting closer. As it got closer, he realised that it was a helicopter and not a shroob saucer. Birdo realised that Yoshi was looking up at something and looked up as well. She then noticed the helicopter descending as well. It was looking as though it was going to land on top of them, so they both moved away from the spot, still looking up at the helicopter. As it got closer, they could see the design of the helicopter. It was mostly white and there was a large logo on the side. It was a logo that Yoshi recognised immediately. It was Professor E-gadd's logo. Birdo didn't recognise the logo and got slightly nervous. She sub-consciously grabbed Yoshi's hand. Yoshi noticed and looked at her. Birdo blushed, let go of his hand and looked away. Yoshi couldn't understand what Birdo was thinking, but decided in his head to find out later. He turned his attention back to the landing helicopter. It landed a few feet away from the two dinosaurs. There were a couple of minutes before the door on the side opened. Birdo had taken the courage to look back at the helicopter that had just landed. Out of the open door stepped Professor E.gadd. He was wearing a necklace, which had some sort of box attached. As soon as he stepped out, E.gadd looked at Yoshi and Birdo with a smile on his face.

"I'm glad you two are ok." The professor said. Yoshi and Birdo remained quiet. This was mostly because they thought that E.gadd would not be able to understand what they were saying, and partly because they were slightly nervous about whether any more shroobs would show up at any moment. There was a long stare down while Yoshi and Birdo collaborated their thoughts. Eventually though, Yoshi decided to ask a question he wanted to know.

"**Professor, I need to know. Is Mario ok**?" E.gadd looked to the floor for a moment. Yoshi began to worry. At first he wasn't sure whether E.gadd understood what he said. Eventually though, much to Yoshi and Birdo's surprise, E.gadd answered Yoshi's question, like he had understood what he had said.

"Yoshi, I'm afraid that he has been taken by the shroobs, along with everybody else who was at the castle." It obviously didn't click that E.gadd could understand what Yoshi had said. Yoshi's head sank; he collapsed onto the floor and began crying. Birdo knelt beside him and put her hand on his shoulder in a vain attempt to cheer him up. Yoshi just kept on weeping. Birdo actually knew this but hadn't told Yoshi because she didn't want to upset him. Plus the whole Yoob fiasco had forced it to the back of her mind. But Birdo had noticed that E.gadd had understood what Yoshi had asked.

"**Professor, can you understand us**?" Birdo asked. E.gadd just pointed to the box that was attached to the necklace he was wearing.

"My newest invention, the Gadd Translator. A universal translator. I'm hoping to try it out against the shroobs, but know I know it works with you guys." E.gadd replied. This triggered another memory, one that she hadn't forgotten. She decided to ask about it immediately.

"**On that note professor, I can understand what the shroobs are saying**." E.gadd just stared back at Birdo for a moment. What Birdo had just said had shocked him. He couldn't think of what to say. There was no logical explanation that came to his mind that would explain why Birdo could understand the shroob's language. However, he did have a thought.

"Birdo, did the shroobs say anything to you directly?"

"**They did actually. Something about my mission being complete and it was time for me to return home**." E.gadd's mind had begun thinking quickly. He then had a possible thought to explain what might be going on, but he knew that Birdo wouldn't like the explanation. He thought he'd ask her first.

"Birdo, I have an idea, but you're not going to like it. Do you want to her it?" Birdo looked at E.gadd again. The words 'not going to like it' had gotten her attention. This told her that it would be a bad explanation that she would like. She was suddenly very quiet. She still had a hand on Yoshi's shoulder, who had stopped sobbing and was just sitting in sorrow. Birdo still didn't know whether she wanted to listen to E.gadd's explanation or not.

"**Do you have any other theories other than the one I won't like**?" Birdo asked. E.gadd looked at Birdo and shook his head.

"No, I don't have any other ideas. Do you want to hear my main one?" Birdo had another think. She didn't know what to say. One half said that she wanted to hear it but the other half said she didn't want to hear it. If she wouldn't like it, she didn't want to hear it. On the other hand, she did want any explanation for why she could understand the shroobs but Yoshi couldn't. She finally decided what to do.

"**Tell me**." Birdo said. E.gadd took a deep sigh and looked at Birdo. Truth be told, he was dreading telling Birdo of his theory. He knew that Birdo wasn't going to like it, but there were no other explanations.

"Soon after the first shroob incident, a small meteor hit the planet, very near this very island. The planet wasn't affected, but it was shortly after the impact that your species began to appear. There have been suggestions that the impact caused a genetic mutation that gave rise to your race."

"**But what does this have to do with me understanding the shroobs**?"

"Some strange pieces of DNA were found in some of the meteorite fragments that survived the impact. They weren't able to identify the DNA, but I've just begun to wonder if your species is a mutated form of shroob." Birdo looked horrified. She couldn't believe what she had just heard. E.gadd was right; she didn't like his theory.

"**I could be a shroob**?"

"I really don't…" Birdo cut E.gadd off before he could finish his sentence.

"**I won't believe that. I can't believe that**!"

"**I don't believe it either**." Yoshi said. He had now fully gotten over the shock of knowing that Mario had been kidnapped by the shroobs, but now he was shocked at E.gadd's explanation for why Birdo can understand the shroobs.

"We can discuss things later. For now, we should go back to my lab." E.gadd said. Yoshi and Birdo said nothing but just nodded. They followed E.gadd into his helicopter and they went back to E.gadd's laboratory.

* * *

Meanwhile, far away, on the shroob's home world, there was a huge palace, looking very similar to what Princess Peach's castle looked like when the shroobs occupied it. One of the rooms inside was a huge throne room. The room was decorated completely purple. There were also purple curtains on the walls and a purple carpet on the floor. The curtains had a shroob mushroom pattern. Also in the room were two purple thrones. There were two very large shroobs sitting on the thrones. One was taller and wore a purple robe. The shroob was also holding a golden staff in its hand. The other was slightly shorter, but wore similar attire. They both had a golden crown on their heads. The two were the king and queen of the shroob race. They were sitting on the thrones quite proudly when a single shrooboid came walking towards them.

"_How goes the invasion_?" The queen asked.

"_All is going well. The people who foiled us last time have been captured_." The shrooboid replied.

"_Have you rendezvoused with our agent_?"

"_We tried, but the leader of them has clearly lost her memory. The moment we tried to talk to her, she attacked us and defeated the shrooboid we had sent_."

"_You mean she has betrayed us_?" The king asked.

"_We fear so. She has been seen with a native Yoshi. She even assisted the Yoshi in defeating Yoob_."

"_What do you suggest_?" The queen shroob asked.

"_The Yoshi must have done something to her. Bring her back alive and we can undo what has been done_." The king instructed.

"_As you wish, your majesties_." The shrooboid replied.

"_How long until we can shroobify our prisoners_?"

"_That is where our difficulty is. A failsafe requires the blood of our agent before we can turn them into shroob fighters_."

"_Very well. Capturing her is our first priority. Find our agent and bring her back here. Then we can turn our enemies into our allies_."

"_Yes, your highnesses_." The shrooboid left the throne room and left the king and queen in the room.

"_Why is our agent betraying us_?" The queen asked.

"_When we apprehend her, we shall find out_." The king replied.

"_But when we have her, we shall be able to get rid of the people who killed our daughters_."

"_Then nothing can stand in our way of dominating the mushroom kingdom_."


End file.
